NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner has admitted exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a teenage girl.

Weiner, 52, surrendered Friday morning and was taken to Manhattan federal court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of transferring obscene material to a minor.

Weiner did not comment as he walked out of the courthouse, but in court he said his “… destructive impulses brought great devastation to my family and friends and destroyed my life’s dream of public service.”

His plea was explicit.

“I engaged in obscene communication with this teenager,” Weiner said, “Including sharing explicit images, and encouraging her to engage in sexually explicit conduct.”

Weiner had been under investigation since last September when a then-15-year-old North Carolina girl claimed in a published report that Weiner sent her shirtless photos of himself and more graphic messages, even though she made it clear she is underage.

The report appeared in Britain’s Daily Mail and claimed that the two traded sexually charged messages for several months.

She also reportedly accused him of asking her to undress on camera.

At the time, Weiner said: “I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgment about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I hurt. While I have provided the Daily Mail with information showing that I have likely been the subject of a hoax, I have no one to blame but me for putting myself in this position. I am sorry.”

The revelations came a month after photos surfaced of Weiner sexting a woman while his 4-year-old son was sleeping in his bed.

The investigation into Weiner’s online communications led FBI agents to seize his laptop computer, which led to the discovery of a new cache of emails that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had sent to Abedin, her aide.

In October, just days before the election, FBI director James Comey stunned the country by announcing that his agency was reopening its closed investigation into Clinton’s handling of State Department business on a private email server so it could analyze the newly discovered correspondence.